York them out: Dhoni’s mantra for his bowlers

With two wounded sides smarting from narrow defeats in their respective previous outings, a no-holds-barred battle is on the cards when Kolkata Knight Riders cross sword with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL match tomorrow, writes Rakesh Thapliyal.

This is a warning for the Kolkata Knight Riders’ bats. Before they turn out for the crucial match against the Chennai Super Kings on Saturday, they should beware of the toe-crushers M.S. Dhoni's bowlers are expected to hurl at them.

The India skipper has given standing instructions to his bowlers to send down yorkers to stop the KKR batsmen. Stung by the Delhi Daredevils’ late charge in the final five overs of Thursday's match, which the Super Kings lost by nine runs, Dhoni is not taking any chances.

“Those last five overs made all the difference between the two teams. We conceded far too many runs. The pacemen will have to bowl yorkers at the death if we are to contain their batsmen,” Dhoni said on Friday.

The Super Kings conceded 66 runs in the last five overs, while the Daredevils gave away just 32. Both KKR and Chennai have played three matches each and have an identical record of two losses and a win. The similarity does not end there, both teams lost close contests on Thursday. It is in this backdrop that the match attains significance.

Both the teams went through extended training sessions, thus making their intent clear.

KKR skipper Brendon McCullum conceded that after losing to Rajasthan Royals on Thursday, his team was feeling low. “Yusuf took the match away from us,” said the Kiwi opener.

“We tried our best, especially Sourav Ganguly, who in his inimitable style, tried to bring us closer to victory.”

The Super Kings would be hoping that their sledgehammer opener Matthew Hayden, currently leading the scoring charts with 166 runs, comes good again.

A lot would depend on Lakshmipathy Balaji to deliver the toe-crushers Dhoni spoke about on the eve of the match.